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The A - Z list of concerns with Pope Francis

Cardinal Danneels in Rainbow vestments Pope Francis meeting with woman who underwent sex-change surgery (to right of pope) and her 'wife' (to left of pope.) Pope Francis next to a statue of Martin Luther Archbishop Paglia | Depiction of Paglia in Cathedral mural clutching semi-nude man.

July 11, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – The confusion caused by Pope Francis in the Catholic Church is out of control. There have been so many incidents over the last four years that the specifics, despite their grave damage, are often forgotten. In an effort to encourage prayer for an end to the confusion and disorientation in the Church, LifeSite presents the following A-Z list of concerns with Pope Francis.

Amoris Laetitia

The document so long awaited to bring needed clarification from the Pope served rather to increase confusion the world over as the Pope himself approved interpretations (Malta, Germany) which allowed for Holy Communion to be given to divorced and remarried Catholics.

Burke demotion

Cardinal Raymond Burke was removed from one of the highest offices in the Church, as the supreme justice of the Church's highest court. Instead he, one of the most faithful Cardinals, was given a largely ceremonial position with the Order of Malta and even there his role was stripped.

Cohabitation

Pope Francis said “cohabitations” with fidelity are “real marriage” and “have the grace of real marriage.” On another occasion when the Pope made similar remarks, papal confidante Fr. Antonio Spadaro tweeted a photo of the Pope greeting a couple who “prefer to live together without getting married.”

Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the emeritus archbishop of Brussels, was a personal appointment by Pope Francis to the Synods of Bishops on the family. In addition to wearing rainbow liturgical vestments and being caught on tape concealing sexual abuse, Danneels said in 2013 of the passage of gay “marriage”: “I think it’s a positive development that states are free to open up civil marriage for gays if they want.”

The scandalous mid-term relatio of the first Synod on the Family was seen and approved-for-release by the Pope according to Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops. “The documents were all seen and approved by the Pope,” Baldisseri said. In a section titled ‘Welcoming homosexual persons’, the document states: “Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.” It then asks: “Are our communities capable of providing [them a welcoming home], accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?”

Gender-confused couple at Vatican

On October 2, 2016, Pope Francis referred to a woman who underwent a sex-change operation as a “man.” He referred to her as having “married” another woman and admitted to inviting and receiving them to the Vatican in 2015, describing the couple as “happy”. Clarifying his use of pronouns, the pope said, "He that was her but is he."

Holy See population control

Since shortly after the election of Pope Francis there has been a steady stream of population control pushers speaking at the Vatican. These include: Paul Ehrlich, the father of the population control movement; John Bongaarts, vice president of the pro-abortion Population Council; pro-abortion U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon; and population controllers Jeffrey Sachs and John Schellnhuber. The head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Sciences, Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, who ran most of those conferences, is himself a population control advocate saying on camera at one such Vatican conference that limiting births was an obligation of the Church.

Irresponsible to have 8 children?

On January 19, 2015 while speaking of "responsible" parenthood, the pope cautioned against Catholics being “like rabbits.” The pope spoke about a woman he knows who he said was pregnant with her eighth child after having the first seven by C-section. He said he had “rebuked” her, saying, “But do you want to leave seven orphans? That is to tempt God!” “That is an irresponsibility. [That woman might say] 'no but I trust in God.' But God gives you methods to be responsible,” he said.

“Some think that, excuse me if I use that word, that in order to be good Catholics we have to be like rabbits.” He added, “No. Responsible parenthood!”

Judge – Who am I to….

Despite the avalanche of evidence of harm to the Church from the Pope’s first ‘Who am I to judge’ remark on his first plane interview in 2013, he repeated the line in June 2016 while misrepresenting the Catechism on homosexuality.

Kasper

A few days into his pontificate, Pope Francis praised one of Cardinal Kasper’s books and then selected Kasper to deliver the controversial keynote address to launch the synods on the family. Kasper was selected as a personal appointee of the pope to the synods and regularly meets with Pope Francis. Kasper defended the vote of the Irish in favor of homosexual “marriages”, saying: “A democratic state has the duty to respect the will of the people; and it seems clear that, if the majority of the people wants such homosexual unions, the state has a duty to recognize such rights.”

During the Angelus of June 2, 2013, he spoke about Christ’s miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes as taking place by "sharing." “This is the miracle: rather than a multiplication it is a sharing, inspired by faith and prayer,” he said. He was even more explicit about it in July 2015 in a homily preached in Christ the Redeemer Square in Bolivia. Pope Francis said, “This is how the miracle takes place. It is not magic or sorcery. … Jesus managed to generate a current among his followers: they all went on sharing what was their own, turning it into a gift for the others; and that is how they all got to eat their fill. Incredibly, food was left over: they collected it in seven baskets.”

After massive confusion around the globe over Communion for adulterers, four prominent Cardinals sent Pope Francis a letter on September 19, 2016 asking for clarification to five key questions. Two months later with no answer received, they went public with their questions and humbly begged the Pope for an answer for the good of the Church. Despite the pleas of theologians and scholars worldwide, and tens of thousands of faithful and clergy, the Holy Father has steadfastly refused to answer. On April 25 the Cardinals formally asked the Pope for a meeting to discuss the matter, but after not even receiving the courtesy of a reply, they released their letter June 19.

Scalfari interviews: ‘Annihilation’ rather than hell?

In March 2015 in an interview with La Repubblica founder Eugenio Scalfari, the Pope suggested no person could go to hell, and proposed annihilation for those who fully reject God. The article says: “What happens to that lost soul? Will it be punished? And how? The response of Francis is distinct and clear: there is no punishment, but the annihilation of that soul.”

There was some controversy over Repubblica's Scalfari interview. The Vatican would neither verify nor deny it in its specific parts, but nevertheless published it in the Vatican newspaper, and on the Vatican website. They later deleted it from the website, only to republish it again, then delete it again. Vatican watchers compared the most controversial part regarding the impossibility of people going to hell for all eternity to the statement from the Pope’s latest exhortation Amoris Laetitia, in which he said, “No one can be condemned for ever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel!”

Traditional youth bashing

"I always try to understand what's behind people who are too young to have experienced the pre-conciliar liturgy and yet still they want it," the pontiff said in a November 2016 interview. "Sometimes I found myself confronted with a very strict person, with an attitude of rigidity. And I ask myself: Why so much rigidity? Dig, dig, this rigidity always hides something, insecurity or even something else. Rigidity is defensive. True love is not rigid."

He spoke similarly in May 2017 when in a homily he spoke “of the many young people in the Church today who have fallen into the temptation of rigidity.” Speaking of those who are ‘rigid’ and insincere, he said, “They are rigid people living a double life: They make themselves look good, sincere, but when no one sees them, they do ugly things.”

Universality destruction

In his 2013 Exhortation Evangeli Gaudium, Pope Francis called for a “conversion of the papacy” and expressed a need to give episcopal conferences “genuine doctrinal authority.” Decentralization is a key demand of heterodox clergy in the Church. During the 2015 Synod on the Family, Pope Francis said he “felt the need to proceed in a healthy ‘decentralization'” of power to the “Episcopal Conferences.” He discussed plans for decentralization with his College of Cardinals both in December 2015 and again in June 2017. In 2016 Pope Francis suggested decentralization as a way forward in the debate over Communion for adulterers.

Vatican doctrine chief dismissal

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, 69, was removed from his post despite all his contemporary predecessors remaining in office till their retirement. Several Cardinals told Pope Francis to remove Muller, who maintained doctrinal orthodoxy since he was opposing the Pope’s agenda for change. Muller revealed that the Pope dismissed him in a one minute conversation. The move is widely seen as a punishment for opposing the Pope’s agenda.

World Youth Day sex ed

At World Youth Day in 2016, the Vatican released a teen sex-ed program that neglected the parents’ central role in such matters, failed to even mention mortal sin, and included sexually explicit photos and films.

X-rated speech

The dignity of the papacy took a hit when Pope Francis used the scatological termscoprophilia (love of excrement) and coprophagia (love of eating excrement) to bash the media for reporting on scandals within the Church.

Yayo Grassi

When the United States nuncio had pro-family hero Kim Davis meet with Pope Francis at the nunciature during his USA papal visit, Davis was refused permission to take photos of the meeting. When the media asked the Vatican about the meeting they first refused to confirm it, and after some time said that "the only real audience granted by the Pope at the nunciature (embassy) was with one of his former students and his family." The Pope’s former student, Yayo Grassi, was there with his sister and mother and his homosexual partner. They took not only photos but also video in which Pope Francis can be seen embracing Grassi and his homosexual partner.

Zika (contraception)

Pope Francis was asked about “avoiding pregnancy” in areas at risk of Zika virus transmission. “Paul VI, a great man, in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape,” he said. “On the other hand, avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil,” he added. “In certain cases, as in this one, such as the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear.” Asked for clarification, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis was approving use of contraceptives and condoms in grave cases. (A contradiction of Church teaching.)

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John-Henry is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com. He and his wife Dianne and their eight children live in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada.

He has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout North America, Europe and Asia. John-Henry founded the Rome Life Forum an annual strategy meeting for pro-life leaders worldwide. He co-founded Voice of the Family and serves on the executive of the Canadian National March for Life Committee, and the annual National Pro-Life Youth Conference.

He is a consultant to Canada’s largest pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, and serves on the executive of the Ontario branch of the organization. He has run three times for political office in the province of Ontario representing the Family Coalition Party.

John-Henry earned an MA from the University of Toronto in School and Child Clinical Psychology and an Honours BA from York University in Psychology.